skullman80 wrote:Ok after seeing the one replay review he did clip him in the chin. Still don't think it was intentionally dirty, but it should get looked at.

As a forechecker Nystrom should be trying to retrieve the puck if it is loose, or separate the man (Letang) from the puck. He did neither, he avoided going after the puck instead trying to level a player who no longer had pocession of the puck. If Letang has the puck on his stick then I have no issue with the hit.

skullman80 wrote:Ok after seeing the one replay review he did clip him in the chin. Still don't think it was intentionally dirty, but it should get looked at.

As a forechecker Nystrom should be trying to retrieve the puck if it is loose, or separate the man (Letang) from the puck. He did neither, he avoided going after the puck instead trying to level a player who no longer had pocession of the puck. If Letang has the puck on his stick then I have no issue with the hit.

Exactly... this is the problem I have with the hit. He made no attempt to play the puck and took advantage of a vulnerable player who did NOT have possession of the puck.

You could see Nystrom actually look at the puck and instead of playing it he hit Letang. If Letang had possession, then ok it was an ok hit.

I really don't have a problem with that hit. Letang gets to the puck before Nystrom, but doesn't get good stick on it. Nystrom pretty much has to assume Letange punches it by him so he accepts being beat to the puck and goes for the hit. If he doesn't, and Letang gets it up to his forward, suddenly Letang is skating on the attack and Nystrom is playing catchup. Players are taught to hit in the situation. There's really nothing wrong with that. I'm also unsure how you can suspend Nystrom when Letang jumps out his path at the last second. I'm really trying to look at this one as evenly as possible, and I can't see a suspension from this, nor do I think Nystrom deserves one.

Glad that a concussed Letang wasn't let back into a game again. I just hope this doesn't end his season. That's all I want to say about that. I don't even want to think about the Pens possibly having to go without both their top forward and top D the rest of the way.

I hope they call up Despres to replace him. He's inexperienced, but it'd be a good opportunity for him and he might be able to contribute on the PP.

Honestly, regardless of any other details I'd give Nystrom a game or 2 for charging. It's almost always going to hurt someone if he hits them at that speed. Rules governing charging also allow for supplemental discipline.

He's not necessarily done if it is a concussion. If his recovery is similar to the last one, he would be back around the end of the season or beginning of playoffs. And if I recall, there was talk that he had some neck involvement with his and once they identified that he started to really recover, so with that now being more in focus on these things maybe they can better identify how exactly he's injured. Or maybe it's really minor and he only misses a few weeks like some guys have. Or maybe a second concussion this season will be more severe and put him out for a while...

In the old NHL the hit is clean, Letang puts himself in a bad spot - and he sacrifices himself to move the puck, Nystrom's job is to either stop the puck or at least make letang pay. He may have had a choice - and he choose to make the hit.

However, the standard has been set - this is not legal anymore.

We can argue whether the new standard is right or not, or whether it helps or hurts the game, but there shouldnt be a debate whether or not that was legal according to the new NHL standards. I hesitate to say rules - because really lord knows with the NHL - however Shanny's videos are (should) be setting a baseline in this regard.

Note: I don't think the NHL knows how to be consistent - which is a problem in it's own right.

sil wrote:Am I seriously the only person who wants to see Brian Strait get some time?

No, I thought he looked solid in his short time before his injury. It's more a matter of need though. Our blue-line gets a lot less mobile without Letang, and Despres looked great in that regard when he was up. I'm not sure if he's up to speed yet from his injury however..

sil wrote:Am I seriously the only person who wants to see Brian Strait get some time?

No, I thought he looked solid in his short time before his injury. It's more a matter of need though. Our blue-line gets a lot less mobile without Letang, and Despres looked great in that regard when he was up. I'm not sure if he's up to speed yet from his injury however..

I think he is. To your point though, while Depres doesn't shy away from contact, a guy like Strait would more than fill in for Letang in regards to physicality in the defensive zone. Perhaps we could see them both up here for a bit if Tanger is out a while.

DropEmJayBird wrote:In the old NHL the hit is clean, Letang puts himself in a bad spot - and he sacrifices himself to move the puck, Nystrom's job is to either stop the puck or at least make letang pay. He may have had a choice - and he choose to make the hit.

However, the standard has been set - this is not legal anymore.

We can argue whether the new standard is right or not, or whether it helps or hurts the game, but there shouldnt be a debate whether or not that was legal according to the new NHL standards. I hesitate to say rules - because really lord knows with the NHL - however Shanny's videos are (should) be setting a baseline in this regard.

Note: I don't think the NHL knows how to be consistent - which is a problem in it's own right.

But what about all those videos where guys have been punsihed because the player being hit made 'no sudden movement' just before contact. Letang tries to leap out of Nystrom's way...which is most definitely a 'sudden movement.' If Letang just continues on his path and takes one to the head...illegal...but it really didn't pan out that way.

steelhammer wrote:If Letang is hurt then Lovejoy will play. Enough with the Despres fantasies already and give Lovejoy some goddamn respect.

He'll definitely play some, but I honestly think some folks will want to see how some of these prospects handle elevated minutes. Lovejoy is a good depth defender, but he's a career fringe #7 guy. Depres/Strait/Bortuzzo/Sneep may not be. They won't log huge minutes if/when they play (though neither will Lovejoy), but I would bet Bylsma will try to get them out there in specific situations to see how they handle it.